REM sleep dream mentation in right hemispherectomized patients.
L McCormick, Tore Nielsen, Maurice Ptito, F Hassainia, A Ptito, J G Villemure, C Vera, Jacques Montplaisir
Neuropsychologia May 1997 DOI: 10.1016/s0028-3932(96)00113-3 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Case-control study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 12 |
| Population | Four patients who had undergone right functional or anatomical hemispherectomy and eight matched control subjects |
| Key findings | Patients with right hemispherectomy reported dreams to much the same extent as controls, and dream content was overall similar, providing strong evidence that dreaming is not a right-hemisphere function and that the left hemisphere may be more critical for dream generation. |
Abstract
Investigations of dream mentation in brain damaged patients have shed some light on the controversial issue of cerebral lateralization of dreaming. To examine further the relationships between brain function and dreaming, we studied REM sleep dream recall and content in four patients having undergone right functional or anatomical hemispherectomy and eight matched control subjects. Patients were found to have the capacity to report dreams to much the same extent as control subjects. Further, the patients' dream content was overall similar to that of the control subjects. The results provide strong evidence that dreaming is not a right-hemisphere function, and that the left hemisphere may be more critical for the generation of dreams. In addition, some characteristics of hemispherectomized patients' dream content (characters, smells) are consistent with the possibility that a history of epilepsy may influence REM sleep imagery over the long term.